Dental floss tool device and method

ABSTRACT

A device to aid in flossing teeth including a jaw hook body, a pair of floss retaining projections on one end of the jaw hook body, and a grip handle at an opposite end of the jaw hook body. The grip handle may be a closed loop, an open loop, a padded structure, a pivoting structure, a decorative structure, a structure for holding the tool upright on a surface, or some combination of these features

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation and claims the priority andbenefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/143,504, filed on Jun. 2,2005, and titled “DENTAL FLOSS TOOL DEVICE AND METHOD,” which in turnclaims priority and benefit to U.S. provisional patent application No.60/576,538, filed on Jun. 2, 2004, and titled “Dental Floss Holder,” andU.S. provisional patent application No. 60/585,244, filed on Jul. 2,2004, and titled “Dental Floss Holder.” The disclosures of all of theabove U.S. patent applications are incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present device relates to a device and method for using dentalfloss.

BACKGROUND ART

Flossing between teeth is recommended for proper dental hygiene.However, the use of dental floss may be difficult for some users. Thisproblem is enhanced for users with poor finger dexterity, users who aremissing fingers, or users that have had other hand disabilities.

A number of prior devices have been created to aid in flossing. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,594 discloses a dental floss holder thatdispenses floss through a hole in the main body of the device. A cavitywithin the body of the device holds a spool, which dispenses floss tothis hole. The body has a curved shape terminating in a pair of forkedtines extending from the device body and spaced far enough apart toallow user to introduce a length of floss into the user's mouth andbetween the user's teeth. The gap has to be sufficiently wide such thatthe tines can fit between the front and back of a user's teeth. Thesetines extend sufficiently far from the device's body and are curved toallow reaching teeth at the back of the mouth without inserting theuser's hand into the mouth. The floss is strung by the side of thecurved tool body between the two tines and along another side of thetool body to a retaining latch. When the user flosses with this device,the user's thumb grips both the floss and the tool, thereby pressing thefloss against the side of the tool and creating tension in the floss.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,651 discloses a rigid sickle-shaped tool body havinga finger handle at one end of the tool body. The floss is strung betweenprojections on the device body. The projections are adapted to allowmultiple strands or loops of floss to be held between a gap on the tool.The handle of the tool is a trigger-like ring through which a userinserts an index finder. The user's thumb rests on the top of the tool,holding a dental floss puller, and the user's middle finger ispositioned below the device.

These prior art devices require that a user push the tool to flossbetween teeth. This pushing may be awkward and cumbersome for someusers. Such motion requires at least gripping the floss and device witha number of fingers.

An alternative to the gripping-type devices and method is needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present device includes a jaw hook body having a set of spaceddental floss holding projections at a first end and a grip handle at thesecond end of the jaw hook body. A floss retainer is positioned on thetool such that dental floss strung between the set of spaced dentalfloss holding projections may be secured on the floss retainer. Thistool allows the user to grip the grip handle with one or more curledfingers and, using an essentially vertical motion, pull the flossbetween the teeth. This device may include a spool on the handle or inthe body of the tool for holding a spool of dental floss. This spoolretainer may have a cover protecting the dental floss fromcontamination. The body of the tool may also include a floss cutterlocated on the tool body. The grip handle may include specializedfeatures, for example including a thumb grip or rubberized innersurface. Grooves along the body of the tool in the projections forholding the floss may aid in ensuring that the floss is retained in thetool. The method of using this tool includes applying a vertical (up anddown) force above or below a user's jaw. The device may be rocked duringuse to facilitate the cleaning of the space between teeth. A bitesurface on the tool's body may aid in applying the desired force. Thispulling motion may be easier than the pushing motion required in priordevices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an embodiment of the floss aidtool.

FIG. 1 is a front view of detail A in FIG. 1, showing the handle/spool.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the projections shown in B of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is a front view of the floss aid tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4B is a partial back view of the floss aid tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view showing the spool of dental floss.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the floss aid tool in use flossing the teeth ina user's upper jaw.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a user flossing the teeth of the user's lowerjaw.

FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating the motion of the floss holdingprojections of the floss aid tool in use.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the tool body showing a cut-away with aninternal compartment a dental floss spool.

FIG. 10 is a side perspective view of an alternative handle including athumb grip.

FIG. 11 is a side perspective view of an alternative embodiment of thetool, including rubberized gripping surfaces.

FIG. 12 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the toolincluding an open loop grip.

FIG. 13 is a side view of an alternative grip which is freestanding.

FIG. 14 is a side view of an alternative grip embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIG. 1, the dental floss tool 10 is shown including atool body 12 having a top section 14 at one end of the tool body 12 anda handle 16 at an opposite end of the tool body 12. The curved,generally half-circular shape of the tool body 12 allows a user toinsert the tool into the user's mouth. Floss secured between projectionsat one end of the tool body 12 is able to reach even the back teeth inthe user's mouth. This shape is referred to as a “jaw hook body”. Thisbody generally has a question mark shape.

The handle 16 includes a through hole 20 through which a user can placeone or more fingers. In this embodiment, a spool of dental floss 18 maybe mounted on handle 16. As show in FIG. 2, spool 18 holds floss 24. Arecessed surface 26 allows simplified access to floss spools at thislocation. Returning to FIG. 1, the floss fed from spool 18 is fedthrough hole 22 on the tool body.

With reference to FIG. 3, the head of the tool, detail B from FIG. 1,shows the floss 24 on projection 30A. A groove 38 on projection 30Aretains floss 24. These grooves aid to ensure that the floss remains onprojection 30A during flossing. Other structures, such as a hook or loopon the projection, could also be used.

With reference to FIG. 4A, the front to the tool shows the floss 24being fed from spool 18 through hole 22. The view in FIG. 4B shows thefloss 24 emerging from hole 22 and being positioned along the body ofthe tool in a handle groove defined by ridges 25. The floss moves pastadditional ridges 27 in a floss retaining groove to the projectionsforming the head of the tool. The floss on the return path is woundaround a floss retainer 32. Before being wound around floss retainer 32,the floss may be cut by floss cutter 34. Retainer 32 may be a clip, knobor other floss retaining structure. In some embodiments, the floss maybe first retained by floss retainer 32 prior to the floss being fed tothe head of the tool. This may allow greater tension to be placed on thefloss.

In FIG. 4A, the head of the tool is shown including spaced projections30A and 30B. Extending between projections 30A and 30B is dental floss24. The projections are spaced with sufficiently wide spacing such thatthe projections may be positioned on either side of two teeth of a user.

The various designs shown by the various embodiments allow a user toapply a pulling force to floss, using only a single finger or thumb insome embodiments. Even using a single finger, a significant improvementin control of the floss aid is achieved. This tool may be especiallyuseful to people with limited manual dexterity.

An embodiment of the handle with a spool retainer is illustrated in FIG.5, which shows handle 16 including a spool mount area 40. A replacementspool of dental floss 18 may be positioned over retaining area 40. Oneend of dental floss 24 is fed through hole 44 on snap on cover 42. Cover42 may be securely snapped over handle 16 and either functionallyretained or retained on latches. This cover prevents tangling of thedental floss and allows the dental floss to be kept clean during storageof the tool. Given that many commercially available dental flosses aresold on similar types of spools having known spool dimensions, thisparticular design allows such commercially available dental floss to beused in the present tool.

In FIG. 6, a user is illustrated using tool 10. The tool is positionedsuch that teeth in a user's jaw 1B may be cleaned. A user's lower jaw 1Amay be subsequently cleaned. A user's thumb 45 extends through handle16. Handle 16 may be designed such that a single finger or multiplefingers may be extended through the handle.

With reference to FIG. 7, the teeth of lower jaw 1A are shown beingflossed by the tool 10. Finger 47 is extended through handle 16. Thebody of the tool presents a surface 7 onto which a user might bite downto help control motion of the tool and to provide additional leveragefor inserting the floss between teeth. It may be desirable to rubberizesurface 7 to increase comfort during such a bite down procedure. Thetool may be used with a up and down motion or in rocking side to side.

With reference to FIG. 8, such a rocking motion is illustrated. Arrow 5indicates the direction of this rocking motion. Tooth 3 is cleaned onone side by floss 24. Projections 30A and 30B are on the front and backside of the tooth 3, respectively. When moving between positions A andB, the floss is scraped between tooth 3 and a adjacent tooth, aiding inthe cleaning of the space between teeth. Such a rocking motion may helpto both clean the teeth and to remove or insert the floss from betweenteeth as the floss is moved from tooth to tooth during a flossingprocess. This rocking motion provides additional leverage.

With reference to FIG. 9, a device body 12 is shown having a internalcavity 53 in which a spool of floss 50 is placed. The floss 24 is fedthrough opening 51 in the body. A cover (not shown) provides access tothis internal cavity 53.

With reference to FIG. 10, an alternative handle is shown including ahandle grip 60 having a thumb grip 62. This embodiment also includes apivot attachment to the tool body 12 at pivot 64. The pivot attachmentcould allow 100 degree rotation of the handle.

With reference to FIG. 11, the handle 16 is shown having an internalrubberized surface 66. This surface may aid in the user in moving thetool in the pivoting motion shown in FIG. 8. In addition, the toprubberized surface may act as a biting surface, as described above. Theexterior surface 68 of handle 16 may also be rubberized, as may be thesurface 67 of tool body 12.

Another alternative embodiment of the device is shown in FIG. 12 wheretool body 12 is attached at its lower end to a open loop handle 72. Inthis version, an amount of floss is dispensed from a floss spool withina cavity inside body 12. On body 12, the floss is held in a groove 70.

Alternative handles are shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. FIG. 13 includes ahandle positioned such that handle 74 rests flat on a surface when thedevice is not in use. This may be useful for a possible display of thehandle.

FIG. 14 shows tool body 12 joined to handle 16 which is covered by cap78. This provides an attractive and whimsical aesthetic appearance tothe device, while also providing a shield from germs for the user's handduring use. A number of alternative decorative designs of the handleand/or the body of the device may be used. For example, animal shapes,toy images, moon shapes, a scorpion shape, or a banana shape could allbe adapted to the device body and/or the grip.

1. A dental floss tool comprising: a head having a first end and asecond end, the first end able to secure a length of floss; and a handlehaving a curved portion and a grip portion, a first end of the curvedportion attached to the second end of the head and extending away fromthe head to form an open aperture, the grip portion connected to asecond end of the curved portion, the head intersecting a line extendingalong an axis of the grip portion, the open aperture having a shape toallow the head to be positioned within a mouth of a user and apply flossto a tooth of the user while the grip portion of the handle ispositioned directly outside the mouth and underneath a jaw of the user,the tooth and the jaw of the user intersecting the line extending alongthe axis of the grip portion.
 2. The tool of claim 1, further comprisinga length of floss secured to the first end of the head.
 3. The tool ofclaim 2, further comprising a spool coupled to the grip portion and thelength of floss.
 4. The tool of claim 2, wherein the head is configuredto displace the length of floss between the teeth of the user in a firstdirection when a pulling force is applied to the grip portion parallelto the line extending along the axis of the grip portion.
 5. The tool ofclaim 2, wherein the floss intersects the line extending along the axisof the grip portion at a point between second end of the head and thegrip portion.
 6. The tool of claim 1, wherein the handle includes anaperture.
 7. The tool of claim 6, wherein the aperture is configured toreceive a finger of a user.
 8. The tool of claim 1, wherein the handleincludes a hook configured to receive a finger of a user.
 9. The tool ofclaim 1, wherein the head is permanently attached to the handle.
 10. Thetool of claim 1, wherein the head is removable from the handle.